


limelight

by cassandralied



Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Assassins & Hitmen, Assassins & Hitmen, Barry (HBO) AU, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/F, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Violence, more tags tba
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2019-11-27
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:28:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21583048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cassandralied/pseuds/cassandralied
Summary: Cassandra Cain finds a new life in L.A., a new dream and a cute girl. The only problem is that she's moonlighting an assassin and she may or may not have started a gang war.
Relationships: Cassandra Cain/Harper Row, Stephanie Brown/Cassandra Cain
Comments: 3
Kudos: 10





	limelight

“I want to be an actress,” is how Cass opens the conversation.

David Cain looks up and she fights the urge to flinch. _“What?”_

Cassandra closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She thinks of the blonde girl, Stephanie, dancing under the lights at that lowbrow club, totally carefree and wild. She thinks of Conner Kent, up on that stage, and the crowd clapping just for them.

“Yeah. I followed Conner to this acting class, and…they think I _have_ something.”  
Cain’s eyes chill over. “Go to your room, Cassandra. Don’t bring this up again.”

“No!” Cass bursts out, for all her heart is hammering. Cain rises slowly, a great white shark in a wifebeater and stained sweatpants, and when he swings at her head, she dodges even though she’s supposed to just stand there and take it. “I want to have a life, Cain! You said killing people would be a temporary thing, til I found a purpose. Well, I found one.”  
“You’re not made to be an _actor,”_ Cain sneers. “You’re a killer! You always will be. Now get out of your own head, and go kill Conner Kent!”

* * *

“Hey, Cassandra, right?” Stephanie catches up with her the next day outside the acting class, as she’s supposed to be waiting for her target. “Have you decided what you’re gonna do for your monologue? I did this scene from _All for the Game_ , you know, with Sandra Bullock? She won an Oscar for it. Have you seen it?”

Blindsided by the rapid-fire way Stephanie speaks, Cass slowly shakes her head. “Well, we’ll find a good one for you,” Stephanie chirps, undeterred. “Give me your phone.” Cass hands it over, a plain burner, and Stephanie types her number in under the name _Steph._ She actually winks, and Cass feels lightheaded even though she hasn’t lost any blood. “See you tomorrow, Cass!”

Cassandra stops Mr. Wayne as he’s leaving the building, when he’s already gotten into his car. His blue eyes show faint signs of recognition. “We missed you in class today.”  
“I know.”  
“Conner was _very_ disappointed.”

“Mr. Wayne, do you think I’m a good actor?” Cass blurts. She feels his eyes, cool and analytical, on her, and then he sighs. “You want my honest opinion?”

She nods. Wayne rubs a hand over his face. “I think you should go back to whatever hole in the world you crawled out of and do whatever you’re good at.”

“You wanna know what I’m good at?” And her mouth is moving again ( _be quiet, Sergeant Cain!)_ “I’m good at killing people. I track the bad guys down and put bullets in their heads. See, when I got back from Quraq, I was really messed up. And my uncle, he said he’d help me. Give me a sense of purpose, you know?” Cass blinks hard. “I don’t want to do it anymore.”

She’s going to have to kill Bruce Wayne, isn’t she? _Fuck_.

“That’s amazing,” he says. “What is that from?”

“What?”  
“That monologue. Don’t tell me you _improvised_ that.”  
She stares.

“Well, you’re in the class. Payment is in advance, in cash.”  
“Not a problem.”  
“What’s your name again?”  
“Cass—” She thinks of the scars between her ribs. Of David Cain. She thinks of stupid, pretty Conner Kent and the stage name he gave her. “Cassie Clay.”

“You pay in advance,” Wayne repeats.  
“Okay.”  
“Good.” He smiles, a movie star smile. “I look forward to this journey, Cassie. Mind your feet.”  
“Oh.” Cass steps back just in time as Wayne starts the car and drives off.

* * *

“Hey, I’m so glad Wayne let you into the class,” Conner says. He’s still waiting to drive her home, all sunny smiles. For a minute, Cass had wondered if he had a crush on her, but something tells her that he’s just that nice. “You must have really impressed him.”  
Cass shrugs.

They park outside her hotel, and Cass reaches for the gun in her jacket. Cassandra thinks again of Cain, of the kill order on Conner Kent who’s real name is Kon-El, who changed it to become more American, who lent her his copy of _Hit Your Mark and Say Your Lines_ by Bruce Wayne. She can’t kill him. He’s not a bad guy just because he slept with the boss’s son.

Then a bullet slams through the window and Conner’s blood and brains splatter Cassandra’s face. She gasps soundlessly, stumbles out of the car into a crouched position. There’s a car parked across the street with the shooter, and sitting in the driver’s seat is Drake’s lieutenant, Harper Row. “Shoot her!” the purple-haired woman demands, but the Chechnyan assassin’s rifle is jammed. The assassin fumbles, but Cass is faster. She raises her gun, fires three times. Silence.  
“FUCK!” she says, one of her uncle’s favorite words, and stalks off.

She misses the red blinking light of Harper’s lipstick camera from the dashboard of the Chechnyan car.


End file.
